Lee Johnson’s parting gift to Barnsley was to guide them into the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final at Wembley with a penalty shoot-out victory against Fleetwood Town last week. A Wembley final is just an added bonus to any manager replacing him at Oakwell.
The question is who will replace him at the League One club? It is certainly an attractive proposition for someone but we are focusing on five names who could be in the running to take over. One was only sacked from his previous job this morning!
Neil Redfearn
It would almost seem to go to be true for all of this to fall together for Redfearn to quickly get back into management. He played well over 200 times for the Tykes in his playing days and is a well-respected figure at Oakwell. He was a manager of a Championship club when he woke up this morning, but a few hours later he was sacked by Rotherham United. The Barnsley job is open and does he want to get back in straight away? He is already the odds-on favourite and he would certainly be a popular appointment. His managerial career has only been brief stops and he will want to have a prolonged period to build a club. Barnsley could be perfect for him to do just that.
Paul Heckingbottom
As is normally the case, the caretaker manager is in the running to take over on a full time basis. If he is a success in the short-term, then he could easily be handed the reins until the end of the season. He is certainly a well-travelled individual in terms of his playing career, which including a spell at Barnsley in the early noughties. The 38-year-old is also the Development Squad Manager at Oakwell as well, so he has at least been dipping his toe into running a team within the club. Other than this he has had quite a quiet and low-key coaching career, but he’ll be desperate to impress and he should get the chance to try and do that.
Tommy Wright
This is quite a popular name in the footballing world, so we should probably clear up which one we are referring to! This is Tommy Wright who is already well-known to Barnsley supporters. He is also the joint-caretaker manager at the club alongside Paul Heckingbottom. He has been right-hand man to Lee Johnson in recent seasons, first at Oldham and then onto Barnsley. He hasn’t already moved on to Bristol City to join him as interim manager at Bristol, John Pemberton, will remain on the coaching staff. It remains to be seen if Wright will get the chance to follow him on if he doesn’t get the gig at Oakwell. The Scot knows the dressing room and will no which areas need improving as well. He would be the sensible appointment but wouldn’t necessarily be the sexy one in terms of not being a big name. Redfearn seems to be the preferred choice at this early stage.
Mark Cooper
We aren’t picking on you Mark seriously! The fact is you are linked with many jobs in the Football League. We ran a piece covering who might take over as Scunthorpe United manager earlier today, and to avoid repeating ourselves, just read that! To quickly sum up, he wants to get back into football, was proven in this league last season and favours an attractive style of play. There are plenty ticks in his column for sure.
Gareth Ainsworth
The Wycombe boss certainly has been progressively making a name for himself at Adams Park. He took over in different circumstances and managed to prevent them from dropping into the National League a few seasons ago on the final day. They were unlucky losers in the League Two Play-Off Final to Southend United last season as well. So far Wycombe are in the top half and pushing for another top seven finish. He will almost certainly be linked to plenty of jobs in the coming years. Would a switch to Barnsley be a good move for him? Certainly. Would Wycombe fans agree….no! He can relate to players and makes them feel ten feet tall, which is one of his many positives. His man manager skills are second to none, plus he would sell the club very well to any potential signing. He would represent the club well, but he may want to continue that with Wycombe and not Barnsley for now.
